How much do you spend on presents?

[ponyboy]

Tis the season for gift giving. How much do you spend?

Luckily my wife and I do not exchange gifts. We buy what we want throughout the year and do not use the holidays as an excuse to spend for no reason. We also like to go on nice vacations each year, so that isnt always inexpensive.

I do buy for my parents, nephew and grandparents. Parents I spend around $300-$400/each. This year it was a total of $700. Nephew around $100, and grandparents $50.

Grand total of $850.

 

[Lawrencewendall]

DW set a budget of 5k for this year Not that she has ever stuck to her budget. That's a big reason why I'm not FIRE.

 

[FIREd]

I buy for 6 people (mother, father + spouse, sister + spouse, niece) and this year we all agreed to limit the budget to a strict $40 per person. So $240.

 

[Dtail]

Each of our combined 5 children gets $100 cash. Easy peasy.

 

[wmc1000]

Kids (3), Spouses (3). GK (4), DW and I don't exchange gifts so approx. $600 - $700

 

[Teacher Terry]

Most of our family is dead so list is very short. Exchange small gifts with a few friends. The 5 kids get 100 each. We don’t have any grandchildren. We don’t give gifts to each other.

 

[REWahoo]

...Spouses (3)

Yikes!

 

[RobbieB]

A couple grand.

 

[athena53]

Zip. I love it. My family culture isn't into gift-giving among adults and my granddaughters get plenty of Stuff from DDIL's side of the family. I don't see them at Christmas- will be visiting Dad and siblings in SC- and they're too young (ages 2 and 4) to grasp that Grandma hasn't given them Christmas presents. I focus on experiences- took them all to a fantastic lunch with the Sugar Plum Fairy sponsored by the Ballet and to the Aquarium, when they were here for a visit. I'm also stashing money in their 529s.

I suppose as they get older I'll want to buy them something concrete, but more thinking and imagination than money will go into it.

 

[greengo523]

Both of my kids wanted something on the expensive side this year. Which is fine since I have the money now. So we will spend $2000+ this time. Probably the most we have spent for Christmas.

 

[Live And Learn]

Zero. Years ago my sister and I gave each other the same exact gift. That was the year we decided that any gift money we would have spent would go into holiday meals instead. My husband and I stopped exchanging gifts for any / all occasions after 4 or 5 years of marriage (we are married 34 years). We have everything we need and almost everything we want from our normal day to day budget. My close family are the only folks to get Christmas cards (husband, mom, sister). Jesus is the reason for the season - the gifts and cards are noise.

 

[TrvlBug]

Very short list...nieces/nephews get $1K each (hopefully some is put away for college!) and DH and I get each other something totally unnecessary. This year we're upgrading from iphone 6s plus to the XS max. Last year, it was the Apple watches; next year, probably a 65" OLED TV. Love Christmas .

 

[imoldernu]

What Live and Learn said.

$0 for many years. Everyone in the family agrees. Makes for happy Christmases.
We help out our kids, 50's 60's, but not as Christmas presents.

 

[audreyh1]

A few hundred dollars. It’s not a major expense for us.

 

[ponyboy]

I love the idea of not spending a single penny during xmas. Its a lot of unnecessary stress. Every year myself and wife have to think of things for my parents to buy us. Its easier now since we have a house and are doing a lot of renovations...but in years past...I would just say "give us money, or dont get anything."

This will be the first year wife isnt mailing out xmas cards. It seems every year we would get fewer and fewer. Im 35 and she's 34...a lot of our friends have stopped doing it over the years.

 

[SmallCityDave]

We budget a $100 per month for Christmas gifts I doubt we will use all of it, the boys really enjoy this time of year.

 

[scrabbler1]

Zero. I was born Jewish but have been an atheist for over 40 years, so December 25th has always been nothing more than the day after the 24th and before the 26th.


Like what some others her have written, I don't need a so-called holiday to buy something for my ladyfriend. If she happens to need something this time of year, then I buy it. Often, I buy her something extra special (and sometimes expensive) for her birthday which is in late March.

 

[Car-Guy]

This year a lot more than usual since I am buying the DW a new car. I guess if I waited until January I'd just call it a major purchase but since it's going to be bought and paid for late next week, I'm calling it a Christmas gift.


Most years it's between 2 and 3k.

 

[street]

About a grand and a half. I will give my son a check for a grand to buy what he wants.

 

[Octogirl]

Each of our combined 4 children gets $500 cash ($ from an inheritance paid in December) Then $400 on social friends, work friends, church gifts, and extra donation to 1 local NPO.

DH and I spend very little $ on each other. Mostly gifts that we find at thrift store or $1 store. We buy simple gifts that reflect trips we will take (Coffee from Kona - hint - trip to Big Island) .

 

[skipro33]

Average $50 per grand kid x 6 of 'em.
Average $50 per kid x 2 plus their spouses for 4 total.
Average $200 on baking for goodies we package up and give out to friends.
Maybe another $300 on incidentals like invites for dinner, bell ringers at Salvation Army, etc.

All told, right around $1,000.

On nontypical years, we'll take one or the other son and family on a trip. Disneyworld a few years back, New Zealand to visit one who was living there at the time, etc.

This is a nontypical year. I bought the wife a replacement wedding ring after hers was cut from her finger after an accident that broke her wrist. That was almost $4,000. See seems to really enjoy it! Ha!
We will also hold off buying pricier items for the home in order to capitalize on all the sales as well. Big screen TV, appliances, clothing, etc.

 

[jfn111]

Airline tickets for DD, SIL and 2 GKs to Florida. VRBO rental for 2 weeks. Presents for son to approximate what we spent on daughter.

 

[rodi]

I spend up to $200/kid... try to keep it closer to $100.
I fill stockings for both kids and hubster... For DH it can get a bit pricey because I try to find cool kitchen gadgets or specialty tools. Figure $100 total for the stockings.
My sister and I tend to exchange small gifts - <$50.
My parents and brother have passed. My husband's mom has dementia so gift would be wasted.

All in < $600... usually closer to $400.

 

[Scuba]

Varies but usually around $2,500. We don’t buy for that many people but we tend to be generous with those we do, and each other. Many of the gifts we buy each other are things we need anyway though. DH usually gets his entire wardrobe for Christmas and birthdays. But it’s fun for us to have gifts to open.

 

[ABQ2015]

About $800 to $900 on presents. Sent $100 to each of my 6 nieces and nephews, gift cards for my hairdresser and housekeeper, and the rest for "stocking stuffers" for when I visit my out of state relatives - mostly New Mexico stuff like a variety of bottled salsas that they cannot buy locally and I bring tamales and red chile. I'll be visiting for more than a week but two siblings in different cities and staying at their homes so don't have to pay for a hotel. But I will take them and their families out to dinner at least once. If you count all the trip costs, Christmas cards, donations, etc. the total cost for Christmas is around $1500.